Rear Exterior Door Handle Issue

[squeasel]

Greetings All! I am having trouble diagnosing an issue with the left rear exterior door handle on our 2003 3.0L. The handle will not open the door though it will pull out. You can see that the handle does not return to the proper position, creating a gap (first photo). I have opened up the door and tested the other parts of the mechanism. Door lock works fine. The interior handle works fine. If I pull up on the "ball" that connects the cable to the exterior handle, all is fine (see second photos). But when I pull the exterior handle, the cable pulls but not far enough to open the door. I have included a third photo as an attempt to show the "carrier" (might be the wrong name). Any suggestions? Cheers!

[diyanich]

The carrier is made of some sort of porous alloy,it breaks.The cable stretches over the time.It's less than durable design.
Your carrier is broken,if you continue pulling that handle,eventually it's gonna get completely loose with sensation that it's not even attached inside.
I had to replace 2 of them already,front right and rear left.

Originally Posted by squeasel

Greetings All! I am having trouble diagnosing an issue with the left rear exterior door handle on our 2003 3.0L. The handle will not open the door though it will pull out. You can see that the handle does not return to the proper position, creating a gap (first photo). I have opened up the door and tested the other parts of the mechanism. Door lock works fine. The interior handle works fine. If I pull up on the "ball" that connects the cable to the exterior handle, all is fine (see second photos). But when I pull the exterior handle, the cable pulls but not far enough to open the door. I have included a third photo as an attempt to show the "carrier" (might be the wrong name). Any suggestions? Cheers!

[squeasel]

Thank you @diyanich.

Edited: Found the front door procedure. Does anyone know the Allen (hex) size needed? Any advice for the back door different from http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...andle-fix.html?

Any chance that it is not the carrier?

Cheers!

[squeasel]

Quick follow-up: the door carrier is, indeed, broken. A new one should be here tomorrow.

Perhaps because of where it was broken, the disconnected carrier was very difficult to remove. I did disconnect the door-lock bar for extra clearance.

BTW, the size of the interior hex screw that holds the carrier is 4mm.

Much thanks to all.

[PersonaNonGrata]

Sorry but I had to chuckle when I read your original post because you weren't sure if it was your carrier. It"s always the carrier. I have changed all four of mine. It's like an X5 right of passage along with multiple window regulators. (5 or 6 of thos for me too.)

There rear is a bit trickier to get bolted in partly because it is more cramped in the rear doors. The metal piece that is sort of like a dummy lock cylinder has to mate with the carrier and it is a little finicky. Take your take and try to work it from both inside the door and the outside at the same time.

Good luck!

[diyanich]

When you put it all back together,be sure no to tighten up the screws and bolts before you perfectly align the rubberized gaskets.I had to re align few times.If I remember well,you shouldn't tighten the screw that goes into the carrier(it has a tiny plastic washer) all the way.Otherwise the hex gets into the wrong angle and you won't be able to tighten it well because of a difficult access,unless you have a flex bit.
So hex goes first,after align the gaskets and then tighten all up.

[squeasel]

Much thanks for the advice @PNG and @diyanich. I now accept that it will be the carriers LOL in the future. I will pre-order the part and save on overnight shipping. And I am going to teach the kids the proper and gentle way to open doors ... perhaps I can reduce the number of times this happens.

Cheers!

[JCL]

I've never failed a door latch or a window regulator, so can't know for sure....

But I wonder whether there is a correlation between failed latches/mechanisms/carriers and whether or not the door latches are lubed annually as per the BMW service guidelines? It is part of Inspection I. I use white lithium grease. YMMV.

With the window regulators, I think there is a correlation between closing the door with the window all the way down (and therefore not fully supported) and the clips breaking on the window regulator.

Both of the above were taught to me by a master mechanic 35 years ago. Every oil and lube service in his shop got the door hinges and latches greased. He knew that it was those types of things that customers noticed (more so when the latches didn't continue to work correctly than whether or not they had fresh grease on them).

[diyanich]

Hi JCL,
Good point.
Which part should be greased?Do you mean that the interior door panel should be removed or just somehow from outside?

Originally Posted by JCL

I've never failed a door latch or a window regulator, so can't know for sure....

But I wonder whether there is a correlation between failed latches/mechanisms/carriers and whether or not the door latches are lubed annually as per the BMW service guidelines? It is part of Inspection I. I use white lithium grease. YMMV.

With the window regulators, I think there is a correlation between closing the door with the window all the way down (and therefore not fully supported) and the clips breaking on the window regulator.

Both of the above were taught to me by a master mechanic 35 years ago. Every oil and lube service in his shop got the door hinges and latches greased. He knew that it was those types of things that customers noticed (more so when the latches didn't continue to work correctly than whether or not they had fresh grease on them).

[JCL]

The latch, from outside. If it is sticky or binding then the carrier would be under additional stress. Just a theory.